BREDA:Hello, Wayside Camera Club, Breda speaking.
DAN:Oh, hello, um, my name’s Dan and I’d like to join your club.
BREDA:That’s great, Dan. We have an application form—would you like to complete it over the phone, then you can ask any questions you might have?
DAN:Oh, yes, thanks.
BREDA:OK, so what’s your family name?
DAN:It’s Green—Dan Green.
BREDA:So—can I take your email address?
DAN:Yes, it’s dan1068@market.com.
BREDA:Thanks. And what about your home address?
DAN:Well, I’m about ten miles away from your club in Peacetown. I live in a house there.
BREDA:OK, so what’s the house number and street?
DAN:It’s 52 Marrowfield Street.
BREDA:Is that M-A double R-O-W-F-I-E-L-D?
DAN:That’s right.
BREDA:… and that’s Peacetown, you said?
DAN:Uhuh.
BREDA:So how did you hear about our club? Did you look on the internet?
DAN:I usually do that, but this time, well, I was talking to a relative the other day and he suggested it.
BREDA:Oh, is he a member too?
DAN:He belongs to another club—but he’d heard good things about yours.
BREDA:OK. So what do you hope to get from joining?
DAN:Well, one thing that really interests me is the competitions that you have. I enjoy entering those.
BREDA:Right. Anything else?
DAN:Well, I also like to socialise with other photographers.
BREDA:That’s great. So what type of membership would you like?
DAN:What are the options?
BREDA:It’s £30 a year for full membership or £20 a year if you’re an associate.
DAN:I think I’ll go for the full membership, then.
BREDA:That’s a good idea because you can’t vote in meetings with an associate membership.
BREDA:If I could just find out a bit more about you …
DAN:OK.
BREDA:So you said you wanted to compete—have you ever won any photography competitions?
DAN:Not yet, but I have entered three in the past.
BREDA:Oh, that’s interesting. So why don’t you tell me something about those? Let’s start with the first one.
DAN:Well, the theme was entitled ‘Domestic Life’.
BREDA:I see—so it had to be something related to the home?
DAN:Yeah. I chose to take a photo of a family sitting round the dinner table having a meal, and, urn, I didn’t win, but I did get some feedback.
BREDA:Oh, what did the judges say?
DAN:That it was too ‘busy’ as a picture.
BREDA:Aha—so it was the composition of the picture that they criticised?
DAN:That’s right—and once they’d told me that, I could see my mistake.
BREDA:So what was the theme of the second competition?
DAN:Well, my university was on the coast and that area gets a lot of beautiful sunsets so that was the theme.
BREDA:Oh, sunsets, that’s a great theme.
DAN:Yes. The instructions were to capture the clouds as well—it couldn’t just be blue sky and a setting sun.
BREDA:Sure, cause they give you all those amazing pinks and purples.
DAN:Yeah—and I thought I’d done that well, but the feedback was that I should have waited a bit longer to get the shot.
BREDA:I see. So the timing wasn’t right.
DAN:Yes—I took it too soon, basically. And then the third competition I entered was called ‘Animal Magic’.
BREDA:Well, that’s a difficult subject!
DAN:I know! I had to take hundreds of shots.
BREDA:I’m sure—because animals move all the time.
DAN:That’s what we had to show—there had to be some movement in the scene. I got a great shot of a fox in the end, but I took it at night and, well, I suspected that it was a bit dark, which is what I was told.
BREDA:Well Dan—you seem to be really keen and we’d be delighted to have you in our club. I’m sure we can help with all those areas that you’ve outlined.
DAN:Thanks, that’s great.
To be continued…